Madrid: Spanish tennis great Rafael Nadal said his struggles at the start of the season, his worst string of results in a decade, are unavoidable moments in an athlete's career.


Rafael Nadal 

No 4 Nadal, who failed to reach the semi of any of the big, early-season hard-court events, including the Australian Open, and also has been way off form thus far on his beloved red clay, said he is in "a little worse situation than other years," reports Efe.